News - Page 1387

Chevrolet retailers can expect much stronger support from General Motors this year after the parent company signed off a range of new initiatives.

South-east dealer group William Jacks has slipped into the red at the mid-year point and revealed it is cutting 10% of its workforce in a drive for savings.

Nissan will reveal its new small car, the NOTE, a five-door hatchback with a sporting flavour, at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show.

Lookers has expanded its Vauxhall network by two to 16 showrooms and added the Chevrolet franchise with the purchase of PLP Motors, a £32m turnover group.

When it comes to new showrooms, it is the vehicle manufacturers who are directing the style and form rather than the architects, says Richard Vardy, property development manager of Reg Vardy plc.

Bath-based accident management company Helphire is to buy car credit hire business Swift Rentacar for £25.2m.

The results of What Car?’s fifth annual used car reliability survey, compiled in association with Warranty Direct, sees Japanese and Korean brands dominate the top 10, with Skoda the highest placed European carmaker at number nine.

EMG Holdings, the East Anglian dealer group, which until this year had solus representation for Ford since 1999, has decided to drop the carmaker’s new car sales franchise at its eight sites.

The new managing director of Mazda has held his first face-to-face talks with dealers within days of taking on the new role.

Motor retailer Eric Williams, whose business is in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, has had his credit licence revoked by the Office of Fair Trading.

Olympian Automotive has signed a deal as main sponsor of Hamptworth Golf & Country Club in Wiltshire.

Four employees of Hendy Group have received long service awards from chairman Brian Hendy and deputy managing director Stephen Hendy.

Pebley Beach Suzuki Wroughton and Cirencester has been rewarded for being one of Suzuki’s top three dealers.

Snap-On Tools wants to alert garages to a rogue caller contacting workshop owners claiming to be from the company.

Patterson Motor Group has made a triple appointment at its new-look Shiremoor dealership in Newcastle.

Automotive suppliers in the UK, hoping the sale of MG Rover will bring them new business, have been urged to look outside the car market for customers or face going bust themselves as the European and US motor industry struggles.

Close Motor Finance, the independent provider of finance to motor dealers, has established a strategic partnership with BT Fleet.

The Transport and General Workers' Union has described talks in Birmingham with Nanjing Automobile this week as ‘positive’ after the union’s first meeting with the purchaser of MG Rover assets.

Car manufacturers operating in Europe invested an average of €1,100 euros (£730) in sales promotion for every passenger vehicle sold in 2004.

Project Kimber, a consortium headed by David James in conjunction with automotive consultancy de Montford of Solihull, says it is working on a fully-funded business plan to build sports cars in the UK or eastern Europe.

Proton is sending out annual vehicle birthday cards to its customers as part of an ongoing customer relationship-building programme.

Mitsubishi Motors has now released the first image of its latest concept car, the Concept-Sportback.

A tenfold rise in the number of service bookings made by company car drivers online has been recorded in the last 12 months by epyx.

THE cost of new compact MPVs rose sharply during July, but residual values for the sector are declining.

Results from sales across the UK.

USED car prices for typical mid-size vehicles have shown a healthy year-on-year increase.

A hi-tech safety system designed to keep drivers in their lanes on long motorway journeys will be launched next month.

Mayor Ken Livingstone may be against ‘Chelsea Taxis’ in the city and there may be plans to levy a £900 per year car tax on them, or even ban them altogether from London’s roads as has been done in Paris, but a recent survey shows the British continue to love their 4x4s.

The Bosch Group has secured a further 40% equity holding in the Indian brake manufacturer Kalyani Brakes Limited bringing its stake in the company to 80%.

Calling all bodyshops: AM is compiling its AM50 listing of the top 50 bodyshops by turnover, the most accurate company listing for the accident repair industry.